{"id":10256,"date":"2026-03-12T10:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/?page_id=10256"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:54:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:54:39","slug":"cassettiere","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/","title":{"rendered":"CASSETTIERE\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

N. 26<\/strong>\u00a0– The\u00a0Uncommon\u00a0Reader<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The title of the exhibition deliberately recalls Alan Bennett’s famous 2007 novel \u201cThe Uncommon Reader\u201d. In the book, the pungent British writer tells how Queen Elizabeth discovered reading. The sovereign can no longer do without it and tries to spread the reading virus to anyone she meets on her path; only those who make it to the last page will discover the repercussions on her entourage, on her subjects, on the security services and above all on the readers. Elizabeth and Margaret thus seem to be united, a century later, by both iconic celebrity and an insatiable bibliomania.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N. 28<\/strong>\u00a0– A\u00a0posing\u00a0queen\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In perfect harmony with the taste of her era, Margaret of Savoy cultivated a marked passion for photography throughout her life, finding in it a quick and valuable means of conveying and eternalizing her image as a modern sovereign. Among the hundreds of shots dedicated to her, especially on public and social occasions, is the genre of the portrait-remembrance; conveyed through the status symbol of la carte de visite, it fixes more than others the character of a woman absorbed in her role as monarch and female model. In her, poses and expressions, together with the richness of her gowns and parure, contribute to a refined and never banal mise-en-sc\u00e8ne, in which the fixed gaze into the camera infuses solemnity, frankness and at times a certain arrogance; in other circumstances the three-quarter pose alludes to a relationship with an elsewhere that is more abstract and ennobling than the present, taking us into a more melancholy and romantic dimension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

n. 30\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0–Pizza,\u00a0strawberries\u00a0and chicken, a queen in the\u00a0kitchen<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite having inspired several recipes, sweet and salty, that have become icons of Italy and its culinary tradition, the Queen does not keep any gastronomy books in her library, not even the great classic La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene<\/em> by Pellegrino Artusi. Published in 1891 at the author’s own expense and dedicated to his cats, this book was an immense publishing success and found a place in almost every Italian home; it paved the way for gastronomic literature, no longer aimed at professional chefs but at middle-class women and servants. It was during those years of culinary rediscovery that, in 1889, Raffaele Esposito named the tasty and famous Neapolitan pizza with mozzarella \u2018Margherita\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The queen’s name was also given to the margheritine, Stresa sweets supposedly created in 1857 in honour of her first communion, to the very popular torta Margherita and to other lesser-known recipes such as Margherita strawberries (for which we have been unable to find the recipe), mentioned on some menus at the Quirinale. The queen also inspired popular sayings such as \u2018Margherita eats chicken with her fingers\u2019, which the Italian bourgeoisie used to justify some transgression or irregular behaviour in strict table etiquette.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.\u00a032<\/strong>\u00a0– The unspoken words<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still have hundreds of cards and letters signed or entirely written by the queen. But to fully understand Margherita\u2019s character and spirit, one must read the correspondence between her and Marco Minghetti. This exchange lasted four years, from 1882 to 1886, and gives a vivid picture of the two characters. The queen could get closer with the famous Italian politician thanks to their weekly meetings, as Minghetti was her personal latin tutor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other important writings are the ones that Margherita wrote for the baron Luigi Beck Peccoz, who was her loyal companion during her mountain excursions. The queen wrote her thoughts on two albums between 1889 and 1899 in Villa Margherita in Gressoney when she was hosted by the baron: among mountaineering comments, we find moods and feelings gradually becoming more and more confidential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most significant pages are probably lost forever. After her death, in fact, her son Vittorio Emanuele not only hastened to sell the residences in Rome and in Gressoney and to turn the villa in Bordighera into a rest home for the mutilated, but he set his mother’s diary on fire without even reading it, even though he was aware that he had cancelled a priceless documentary source forever, as Carlo Richelmy recounts in his book the \u201cFive Kings: Secret History of the Savoy Family\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.\u00a034<\/strong>\u00a0–A woman on the front page<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figure of Margherita fascinated and continues to fascinate the press and media. Biographies, studies and articles have shed light on various aspects of her personality and life, to the point of seeing her in recent years as an influencer ante litteram, due to her undoubted ability to construct and present her image. In the newspapers of the time, not only the highlights of her public life, but also, and more tastefully, her private moments were documented, narrated emphatically and accompanied by illustrations. Many journalists loved covering her: an example is Matilde Serao, founder of \u201cIl Mattino\u201d, who in the summer of 1892 from Gressoney wrote a reportage of the Queen’s holiday days and her mountaineering excursions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ugo Pesci and Count d’Arco, pseudonym of Ludwig von Arco, chroniclers of the \u201cFanfulla\u201d, a newspaper close to the monarchy and the Right, would write pages on the Queen recalling how, just after the breach of Porta Pia, \u201cshe was able to perform the miracle of conquering Rome in a very short time\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The various newspapers bounced news from eyewitnesses of court life; one of the most fervent moments was the carnival, when the salons of the Quirinale opened to balls that were also accessible to a few journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us close with the words of a great writer and journalist, Fanny Salazar Zampini who wrote: \u201cAlthough (…) she will turn 60 on the 20th<\/sup> November 1911, she is still one of the most elegant women in Italy. No other woman knows better the art of how to make the most of herself and how to maintain her beauty. Her complexion and figure are still envied by everyone in Italian society. Her Majesty is little concerned with court life and, since the death of her husband, has devoted much of her time to philanthropic work throughout Italy. Indeed, she is looked upon by the people of that nation in the same light as Queen Alexandra (consort of Edward VII, King of England) in this country. Sympathy for her status as a widow is combined with admiration for the strength with which she faced the tragedy of her life\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.\u00a036<\/strong>\u00a0– Margherita\u2019s houses<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in the ancient Palace of the Dukes of Chiablese, next to the Royal Palace in Turin, Margherita of Savoy grew up among the sophisticated elegance of one of the most sumptuous Savoy residences of eighteenth-century taste, in which the preciousness of the tapestries, the refined essences of furniture and upholstery, together with the brilliance of mirrors and gold decorations constituted the stylistic mark of a privileged life, capable of shaping the tastes of the young princess and influencing her future choices of furnishings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Royal Palace in Turin to the Stupinigi Game Room, via the Quirinale Palace and the Reggia of Monza, the first queen of Italy redesigned her court rooms, imposing her passion for the more traditional forms of French Baroque and Rococo and a highly eclectic arrangement of spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After marrying Umberto and moving to the Quirinal Palace in Rome in February 1871, it fell to the young Margherita to transform the austere papal residence into a modern European palace. The apartments that in the Napoleonic period had belonged to Empress Marie Louise and Napoleon were reserved for the princely couple, located in the northwest and northeast wings of the noble floor. Margaret closely followed the renovation of the larger, more unadorned reception rooms, which were to be transformed into sumptuous salons for the court’s social events. The most conspicuous work involved the eastern wing of the palace facing the garden. Gradually each room was connoted in large part by elegant and exuberant decorative solutions and rocaille motifs inspired by the French Louis XV style, drawing extensively from what was contained in Savoy residences and the palaces of the states before the unification of Italy. The taste imprinted by the sovereign was distinguished by the crowded and sometimes redundant presence of furniture and furnishings, according to a sense of true horror vacui populated by original pieces and \u201cin style\u201d elements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the spaces revisited by Margherita, the small study with its private library is striking for a series of precious 18th-century shelves adorned with inlays of ivory and various essences, made by the Turin cabinetmaker Piero Piffetti, on commission by the House of Savoy, for Villa della Regina in Turin and disassembled and transferred to Rome at the wish of Umberto I in 1879. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the king’s death (1900), Margaret left the Quirinal Palace to her son and daughter-in-law Elena, retiring as Queen Mother to the Palazzo Piombino, an imposing residence purchased by Vittorio Emanuele III from the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family, which had commissioned architect Gaetano Koch to build it between 1886 and 1890. In the building, which overlooks Via Veneto (and today houses the Embassy of the United States of America), the elderly sovereign spent the last years of her life without ever betraying her passion for sumptuous rooms overloaded with decorations, even when the 20th century was turning to art deco and the first instances of modernism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside Rome, the queen loved to stay at Castel Savoia in the Lys Valley, her favourite residence during her long stays in the Aosta Valley. The mansion was specially built, between 1899 and 1904, to accommodate the sovereign and the inner circle of her personal retinue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architect Emilio Stramucci’s design idea fully adhered to the queen’s desire to live in a true refuge, sumptuous in appearance and equipped with all modern comforts, in which court etiquette gave way to the placid serenity of a life immersed in nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queen Margherita’s last residence was an elegant villa in Bordighera, built by her own will between 1914 and 1915, as a buen retiro in which to spend most of the year, far from the labors of her official engagements. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N. 26\u00a0– The\u00a0Uncommon\u00a0Reader\u00a0 The title of the exhibition deliberately recalls Alan Bennett’s famous 2007 novel \u201cThe Uncommon Reader\u201d. In the book, the pungent British writer tells how Queen Elizabeth discovered reading. The sovereign can no longer do without it and tries to spread the reading virus to anyone she meets on her path; only those who make it to the last page will discover the repercussions on her entourage, on her subjects, on the security services and above all on the readers. Elizabeth and Margaret thus seem to be united, a century later, by both iconic celebrity and an insatiable bibliomania.   N. 28\u00a0– A\u00a0posing\u00a0queen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In perfect harmony with the taste of her era, Margaret of Savoy cultivated a marked passion for photography throughout her life, finding in it a quick and valuable means of conveying and eternalizing her image as a modern sovereign. Among the hundreds of shots dedicated to her, especially on public and social occasions, is the genre of the portrait-remembrance; conveyed through the status symbol…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"category_page":[],"class_list":["post-10256","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"N. 26\u00a0– The\u00a0Uncommon\u00a0Reader\u00a0 The title of the exhibition deliberately recalls Alan Bennett’s famous 2007 novel \u201cThe Uncommon Reader\u201d. In the book, the pungent British writer tells how Queen Elizabeth discovered reading. The sovereign can no longer do without it and tries to spread the reading virus to anyone she meets on her path; only those who make it to the last page will discover the repercussions on her entourage, on her subjects, on the security services and above all on the readers. Elizabeth and Margaret thus seem to be united, a century later, by both iconic celebrity and an insatiable bibliomania.   N. 28\u00a0– A\u00a0posing\u00a0queen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In perfect harmony with the taste of her era, Margaret of Savoy cultivated a marked passion for photography throughout her life, finding in it a quick and valuable means of conveying and eternalizing her image as a modern sovereign. Among the hundreds of shots dedicated to her, especially on public and social occasions, is the genre of the portrait-remembrance; conveyed through the status symbol...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T09:54:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/cassettiere\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/cassettiere\\\/\",\"name\":\"CASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T09:53:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-12T09:54:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/cassettiere\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/cassettiere\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/cassettiere\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CASSETTIERE\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\",\"description\":\"Un nuovo sito targato WordPress\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/logo-biblioteca-nazionale-nero.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/logo-biblioteca-nazionale-nero.png\",\"width\":70,\"height\":77,\"caption\":\"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","og_description":"N. 26\u00a0– The\u00a0Uncommon\u00a0Reader\u00a0 The title of the exhibition deliberately recalls Alan Bennett’s famous 2007 novel \u201cThe Uncommon Reader\u201d. In the book, the pungent British writer tells how Queen Elizabeth discovered reading. The sovereign can no longer do without it and tries to spread the reading virus to anyone she meets on her path; only those who make it to the last page will discover the repercussions on her entourage, on her subjects, on the security services and above all on the readers. Elizabeth and Margaret thus seem to be united, a century later, by both iconic celebrity and an insatiable bibliomania.   N. 28\u00a0– A\u00a0posing\u00a0queen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In perfect harmony with the taste of her era, Margaret of Savoy cultivated a marked passion for photography throughout her life, finding in it a quick and valuable means of conveying and eternalizing her image as a modern sovereign. Among the hundreds of shots dedicated to her, especially on public and social occasions, is the genre of the portrait-remembrance; conveyed through the status symbol...","og_url":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/","og_site_name":"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","article_modified_time":"2026-03-12T09:54:39+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/","url":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/","name":"CASSETTIERE\u00a0 | Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-12T09:53:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-12T09:54:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/cassettiere\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CASSETTIERE\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/","name":"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","description":"Un nuovo sito targato WordPress","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#organization","name":"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino","url":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/logo-biblioteca-nazionale-nero.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/logo-biblioteca-nazionale-nero.png","width":70,"height":77,"caption":"Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10268,"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10256\/revisions\/10268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category_page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnuto.cultura.gov.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_page?post=10256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}